U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,897 discusses pharmaceutical compositions formulated for aerosol administration to the nasal sinuses. The compositions contain one agent for treatment of sinusitis and a surfactant; they further have a surface tension between 10 dynes/cm and 70 dynes/cm.
The compositions are aerosolized using a nebulizer, such as a the Respironics Sidestream® jet nebulizer and the Pari LC® jet nebulizer. According to the patent, the resulting aerosols have a mass median aerodynamic diameter between 0.5 μm and 5.0 μm. A stated objective is to produce aerosols where less than 20% of the particles are over 5.0 μm in diameter. There is no indication within the four corners of the document, however, indicating that such a distribution was achieved.
In view of the disclosure presented in U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,897, there remains a need for aerosolization methods and related compositions that may be used to treat sinusitis, rhinitis and related neurological disorders of the cranial cavity and facial tissue.